Welcome
to the 2003 International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression
NIME'03NIME'03 is the third event in the NIME series, after the initial NIME
workshop at the 2001 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems CHI 2001,
held at Seattle, WA, and the first international conference NIME'02 International
Conference held last year at the MediaLab Europe, in Dublin, Ireland.
Where
NIME'03 will keep up with NIME'01 and NIME'02 spirit and will be hosted this
year by the Faculty of Music, at McGill University, in the cosmopolitan and
culturally exciting city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
When
From May 22 to May 24, 2003, the conference will be a three full-day event with
research papers, demos and performances representative of the state-of-the-art
concerning new interfaces for musical expression.
Goal
The main goal of the NIME'03 conference is to blend high-level scientific and
technological research on the development of new interfaces for musical expression
and high-level artistic performances using such interfaces.
For this purpose, one of our main concerns in designing NIME'03 was to insist
on exploring the importance of previous works on interfaces for musical expression.
Keynotes speakers
This was the main force behind the choice of the invited speakers for this year's
conference: the three keynote speakers are internationally known in this domain
and each has substantially contributed to the development in this area:
* Michel Waisvisz from STEIM, The Netherlands
* Claude Cadoz from ACROE, France
* Joe Paradiso, from the MIT MediaLab, USA.
Papers, Reports, Posters and Demos
On the scientific side, this year's NIME had an impressive list of reviewers
among the most important experts in this area worldwide. Actually, NIME'03 reviewers
came from North and South America, Europe, Japan and Australia and reflect the
various trends in this domain. The paper selection process was headed by Philippe
Depalle (McGill University).
Concerts
Concerts will be presented at the end of each conference day, where the state-of-the
art on new interfaces will be shown in a musical setting. The first concert
will feature an invited performance of the Wireless Duo performing their score
on the screening of the silent movie masterpiece Faust, by F. W. Murnau (1926).
Mark Goldstein and Dennis James will use alternate controllers such as the Buchla
Lightning and the Theremin to create the sounds that accompany the movie. The
concert will take place in McGill's Redpath Hall, a former chapel whose architecture
will help create the atmosphere for Murnau's Faust!
The second and third concerts will feature selected performances submitted to
the NIME03 artistic committee, headed by Joseph Butch Rovan (University of North
Texas) and will be performed in McGill's Pollack Hall.
Apart from the paper sessions and concerts, NIME03 will innovate on the format
of the conference. We have designed this year's conference to optimize discussion,
so that formal paper and report sessions will end early in the afternoons, leaving
space for posters, demonstrations and workshops. It is our goal that after the
formal sessions (always single-track), delegates and artists will have the opportunity
to discuss their own works and learn from each other's experiences.
Guests
Another innovation is reflected through the various guest presenters to NIME03.
They include some of the most representative artists and researchers in this
area that will be presenting and discussing their works during the conference:
* Max Mathews presenting the new Radio Baton design, Jana Saleh and Richard
Boulanger performing two of Boulanger's recent real-time multi-media pieces
"StarDust" and "DarkMatter";
* Tomie Hahn and Curtis Bahn presenting "Pikapika";
* alcides lanza, director of McGill Electronic Music Studio (EMS), giving a
special multi-media talk on Hugh Le Caine and on some of the electronic instruments
he developed in the 50's and 60's. In fact, Le Caine worked at McGill's EMS
in the 60's and Prof. lanza had the opportunity to use some of his instruments
on his own compositions.
* Garth Paine presenting his performance "Organic Serendipity".STEIM
Workshops
Finally, the Dutch Institute STEIM will be the guest institution in NIME03.
Apart from Michel's keynote address closing the conference on Saturday, STEIM
will be presenting two workshops: the first one on various sensors, the new
SensorLab interface and the software LiSa by Frank Baldé (Thursday and
Friday afternoons) and the second one, "Ensemble", with 7 active garments,
by Kristina Andersen.
NIME03 in a Snapshot
* Three invited speakers: Michel Waisvisz (STEIM, NL), Claude Cadoz (ACROE-
ICA, France), and Joe Paradiso (MIT Media Laboratory, USA).
* Research and development papers and reports in 9 single-track sessions, plus
one poster session.
* Demonstrations of controllers, software and technologies for musical expression
on Friday and Saturday afternoon.
* Three evening concerts featuring pieces for new interfaces.
* Invited demonstrations, installations and short concerts by outstanding guests.
* Workshops given by STEIM, the Dutch Institution that has been in the forefront
of developments related to gestural controllers for the last three decades.
I am sure that NIME03 will be a unique opportunity to learn the latest developments
on the area of new interfaces for musical expression and to exchange information.
Thanks to all of you - speakers, performers, guests, delegates - for contributing
to the success of NIME03. Have a nice conference!